This invention relates to a method and a retainer for holding a conventional flower pot from tipping over accidentally due to laterally-applied forces of the wind or accidental contacts.
Conventional flower pots, which are typically made of plastic materials or clay or the like, and are normally filled with a potting material or dirt to hold flowers or other plant materials, have a tendency of tipping over when subjected to laterally-applied forces from wind or physical contacts. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a simple, inexpensive device which would retain the flower pot against tipping over on its side when lateral forces are applied thereto.
Devices for holding a flower pot have been known in the past. One example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,105 issued Nov. 17, 1998 to Ronald E. Loosen for “Nursery Pot Stabilizing Device.” In general, the device disclosed in that patent involves a flower pot holder which has a base which is provided with openings. Hooks engage the holder base through its openings and extend into the ground to hold the pot upon the ground. However, that device is relatively expensive and is cumbersome in use and thus, is not readily useful in connection with conventional flower pots. To be practical, the holder must be sufficiently inexpensive to use with a substantial number of ordinary clay or plastic flower pots which are typically provided by retail plant sales establishments. Frequently, conventional pots containing plants are placed on the ground near homes, cemetery gravesites and other places for the temporary display of potted flowers. Since these are commonly used in substantial quantity, it is essential that the holding device be extremely inexpensive and simple in construction and operation.
Other examples of devices that have been disclosed for the purpose of holding a flower pot upon the ground and preventing the pot from tipping over, are described in the following prior patents: U.S. Pat. No. 1,902,423 issued Mar. 21, 1933 to W. H. Seltzer for “Flower Holding Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,070 issued Jan. 18, 1994 to Gerald C. Shreckhise for a “Plant Growing Receptacle and Method”; U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,764 issued Nov. 25, 1958 to Delphis Fischer for a “Receptacle Holder”; U.S. Pat. No. 1,846,433 issued Feb. 23, 1932 to Percival F. Morley for a “Flower and Plant Holder”; French Patent No. 2,557,761 published Jul. 12, 1985 to Daniel Naas for a “Device for Stabilizing Flower Pots”; French Patent No. 2,481,881 published Nov. 13, 1981 to Andre Franclet, illustrating a “Flower Pot Retaining Device for Holding a Pot Upon the Ground”; French Patent No. 1,148,341 published Dec. 6, 1957 to M. P. Jean-Xavier Dagnaud for a “Holder for Vases and Pots”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,841 issued Sep. 20, 1966 to J. G. Cota for a “Device for Holding Flower Receptacle in Upright Position”; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,461 issued Jul. 4, 1950 to Thomas P. Duncan, Jr. for a “Device for Holding Flowers.”
Each of the retaining devices disclosed in the foregoing patents is relatively expensive, particularly where a substantial number of them may be needed for temporarily holding a considerable number of flower pots in one garden area, for example, at one time. These prior devices, for the most part, are formed to support a single-size pot. However, flower pots that are conventionally used come in different shapes and sizes so that an inventory of retainers of different sizes would be needed for holding an assortment of pots which vary in sizes. The devices disclosed above, in general, lack the ability to hold pots of different sizes within a relatively wide range of sizes.
Hence, it would be desirable to have a simplified, very inexpensive, retainer which may be used on an assortment of different size and shape flower pots to securely hold a flower pot upon a ground surface or other surfaces, against tipping over when subjected to wind forces or contact forces which are applied laterally against the pot or against the plants that extend upwardly from the pot.
The present invention contemplates a simplified retainer and an easy method for applying the retainer for immobilizing a conventional flower pot rested upon a ground surface or similar surface. The device comprises an elongated wire stem having an upper end that is bent into a downwardly opening hook which fits over and holds an upper edge portion of the rim of a conventional flower pot. The stem extends downwardly from the rim of the pot closely along the wall of the pot and into the ground for a sufficient depth to hold the retainer in place and to enable the retainer to stabilize the pot against tipping.
In many instances, a single retainer, as described above, would be sufficient to hold a pot against tipping. However, where a single retainer is not sufficient, due to the size or shape of the pot or the anticipated forces of the wind or physical contacts which are laterally applied against the pot or the flowers or plants within the pot, two retainers may be used, one on each opposite side of the pot.
Preferably, the stem is bent into a curve which closely simulates a segment of a circle. Thus, the curved stem extends downwardly from the hook portion at its upper end, along the side of the pot, into contact with, or closely adjacent to, the corner portion formed by the intersection of the pot wall and the bottom of the pot, and then continues downwardly into the ground beneath and inwardly of the area of the bottom of the pot. In applying the retainer, it may be grasped manually, and placed into contact with the upper edge or rim of the pot and the lower corner, i.e. the junction between the wall and the bottom of the pot, and pushed downwardly until the hook engages the upper portion or rim of the pot while the lower portion slides endwise into the ground beneath the pot bottom.
An alternate arrangement may be used where the pot is supported upon a patio or walkway or other surface made of boards or the like where there are spaces between adjacent boards. There, the lower end of the stem would be passed through the space between a pair of boards and then bent underneath the board supporting the pot for holding the retainer and pot in place. Further, it is contemplated to coat the wire forming the stem and hook portion with a conventional paint-like coating, as for example a suitable, commercially available paint containing roughening particles, such as sand or some other conventionally available rough surfacing material. The coating substantially increases the frictional grip between the retainer and the ground into which the retainer is inserted, thereby resisting any tendency for the retainer to inadvertently pull out of the ground.
One object of this invention is to provide an extremely inexpensive retainer in the form of a conventional, stiff, metal wire strip of sufficient length to extend around the upper edge of the pot and then downwardly from the upper edge of the pot, along the side of the pot and into the supporting surface beneath the pot bottom. With that configuration, the retainer applied on one pot will not interfere with the retainer or an adjacent pot when a pair of pots is arranged close together. The pot is anchored to the area of the ground that is just beneath its bottom.
A further object of this invention is to provide a retainer which is easy to apply, requires minimal effort or force to apply it, and which will nevertheless hold a pot against relatively strong lateral forces that may be applied laterally against the pot or its contents.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a retainer made of a length of a metal wire which is so inexpensive and easily stored or displayed, that substantial quantities of these retainers may be available to a gardener or other user at relatively low cost.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.
Referring to the drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of this invention, a conventional flower pot of the molded clay type, 10 is illustrated as resting upon the ground. The pot may be made of a plastic material, such as illustrated in
The pot 10 illustrated in
The pots as schematically illustrated in the drawings are typically filled with a potting material or dirt 25 for containing a plant 26. The plant 26 is schematically illustrated. It may be a single flower plant or a number of flower plants or a bush or some other plant-type of material which are commonly sold or potted or planted by gardeners in flower pots. Similarly, the flower pot may be round or formed in an elongated trough-like or rectangular shape.
It is contemplated that the flower pot will be supported upon the ground 30 which is comprised of some penetrable material, such as earth or pebbles, etc. By way of example, it is common to display potted flower pots or potted plants, at gravesites in cemeteries for various occasions, such as the deceased person's birthday, anniversary of death, mother's/father's day, or Christmas. Potted flower pots and potted plants are commonly used in outdoor settings in garden areas or in landscaped areas around houses or other buildings. In these instances, it is common to temporarily place flowers or other potted plants and to replace them periodically when necessary or desired.
In each of these uses, the flower pots, which may be relatively small, may be subjected to lateral wind forces or other physical disturbances or inadvertent laterally-applied physical forces, such as by some object, or small animal or person bumping into them, which may cause the pots to tip over onto their sides. This is a common occurrence. The essential purpose of the retainers herein is to prevent such tipping from occurring.
The retainer 35, as illustrated for example, in
The lower end of the stem is preferably formed with a sharpened or pointed end 40 which assists in penetrating the ground when the retainer is pushed downwardly into position for holding a pot. Similarly, the free end of the short, outer leg 39 of the hook 37 may be formed with a sharpened or pointed end 41 (see
The stem is preferably bent along its length into a curvature which is generally similar to the shape of a segment of a circle. Thus, referring to
With this simplified method, the positioning of the retainer, or retainers if more than one is used, is easily accomplished with minimal effort and force. Since the lower part of the stem is within the area directly beneath the bottom of the pot and the main portion of the stem is close to the pot wall, the retainers do not extend any significant distance sideways from the walls of a pot where they could interfere with adjacent pots when two or more pots are closely arranged. Moreover, the retainers are close enough to the pot wall so that ordinarily they cannot be disturbed by wind or by physical objects contacting the pot wall. One or two retainers are ordinarily sufficient to hold most, if not all, pots against tipping even though the pot may be subjected to a substantial lateral force, such as a high wind gust or a physical contact which may happen, for example, when lawn mowers or other landscaping equipment accidentally touch a flower pot.
Because of the curvature of the stem, whose lengthwise movement into the ground is guided by the contact with the pot upper and lower wall edges, the pot serves to properly direct and position the lead end of the retainer beneath the pot as indicated in the drawings. Although it is preferred that the user physically touch the retainer stem against the lower corner or junction of the pot wall-bottom and the rim, the retainer may still be applied even though it may be slightly spaced from contact with the pot.
Preferably, the wire 46 forming the retainer is covered with a coating 47 of a paint-like material which provides a roughened surface finish (see
The bent holding member may be pre-formed and may be manipulated through the space between two adjacent boards and then turned sufficiently to contact the undersurface of the board upon which the pot is rested. Then the pot may be tipped slightly to insert its rim within the hook. Alternatively, and in some cases, the lower end portion of the stem would be bent in situ in order to first engage the hook at its upper end with the pot rim and then have its lower end portion bent sideways against the lower surface of the board.
When the retainer is applied, as shown in
This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. The foregoing description should be treated as a disclosure of a preferred, operative embodiment of this invention and not in a strictly limiting sense.
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/065,736, filed Feb. 25, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of my prior application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/716,208, filed on Nov. 18, 2003.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11065736 | Feb 2005 | US |
Child | 11544356 | Oct 2006 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10716208 | Nov 2003 | US |
Child | 11065736 | Feb 2005 | US |